Deathscapes

Policing the Interior

Policing the Interior

This turn to interior enforcement, or what could be called the bordering of the interior, is part a new explicit border security doctrine developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and implemented by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The thinking is that only by developing a ‘continuum of border security’, treating the territorial boundaries of the U.S. and the interior as a seamless security space, will it be possible to buttress the physical border and deter the flow of illicit immigration.

One important mechanism ICE has employed to carry out its interior policing mission is the raid. A raid is a practice whereby immigration authorities, sometimes with the help of other policing agencies, descend en mass on homes, places of work, and other spaces with the express purpose of apprehending individuals believed to be in the country illegally.

Another strategy ICE has employed in policing the interior is to partner with local and state police forces, sometimes using them as proxy immigration officers. The idea behind these partnerships, and the devolution of immigration authority from federal powers to non-federal law enforcement agencies, is that they serve as a “force multiplier” for the DHS, significantly expanding the reach of immigration policing authority.